The Nebraska Legal Marijuana NOW Party has enrolled over 10,000 registered voters, satisfying one of two ways for a political organization to qualify for recognized party status in the state. The party has also selected Edward Williams to be its new state chair.
In a December 2 email shared with Independent Political Report, party leadership shared a screenshot of registration details from the Nebraska Secretary of State’s office showing the party with 10,050 registered members. The party has steadily grown, with additional context noting that it was “33 people away from 10,000 registered voters” in the early weeks of November.
Registering 10,000 voters is one of two ways a political party in Nebraska can qualify for recognized status, which allows the party to place candidates on the ballot without petitioning. Under state law, a party may qualify if it has that many registered members on the state’s registration rolls. It may also qualify if one of its candidates receives at least five percent of the vote in either of the two most recent statewide races.
The email also included an earlier forwarded update initially from November naming Ed Williams as the new state chair of the Nebraska Legal Marijuana NOW Party. It did not provide additional details surrounding the process. Williams succeeds Mark Elworth Jr., who has led the party since it first gained official status in 2021.
Prior to becoming chair, Williams had been identified in previous filings as a co-chair of the organization. He was also considered in 2024 as a possible replacement nominee for the U.S. Senate after the party’s original candidate withdrew. The party ultimately chose not to file a substitute candidate with the Nebraska Secretary of State.
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